Hidalgo (2004)
Director:
Joe Johnston
Tagline:
« Experience the incredible true story of a man who left behind the world he knew, and found the courage to do the impossible »
Actors:
Frank Hopkins
Jazira
Sheikh Riyadh
Lady Anne Davenport
Rating:
(88’958 votes)
(88’958 votes)
Quotes:
« Frank T. Hopkins: Mister… you can say anything you want about me. I'm gonna have to ask you not to talk about my horse that way.
»
« Prince Bin Al Reeh: You will not defeat me. I am born of a great tribe, People of the Horse.
»
« Frank T. Hopkins: So am I.
»
« Frank T. Hopkins: Nobody hurts my horse.
»
Trailer:
Hidalgo
Runtime:136 minutes
Plots:
In 1890, a down-and-out cowboy and his horse travel to Arabia to compete in a deadly cross desert horse race.
Cowboy Frank T. Hopkins, who has an Indian mother, was wounded and traumatized for life as US Cavalry scout at the Wounded Knee Massacre and joint Buffalo Bill’s world travelling (Ringling Circus) Wild West show as horse stuntman as well as reputed horse racer. An Arabian sheikh comes dare him to defend the show billing as the world’s greatest endurance rider, by entering -as first Westerner- the millennial great ‘ocean of fire’ race across the unforgiving Arab deserts, which always eliminates most riders, often fatally. Hopkins enters with the first-ever non-thoroughbred, his trusted mustang Hidalgo. As if learning the harsh country in the act weren’t hard enough, he must contend with contempt for infidels and impure horses, as well as competitors stopping at nothing, including the Enlish lady davenport who employs one, having wagered against the obvious favorite, the champions from the stable of Sheikh Riyadh, whose tomcat daughter sides with Hopkins, which proves both helpful and as a mortal a danger as a sand storm.
Held yearly for centuries, the Ocean of Fire–a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian desert–was a challenge restricted to the finest Arabian horses ever bred, the purest and noblest lines, owned by the greatest royal families. In 1890, a wealthy sheik invited an American, Frank T. Hopkins, and his horse to enter the race for the first time. During the course of his career, Hopkins was a cowboy and dispatch rider for the U.S. cavalry–and had once been billed as the greatest rider the West had ever known. The Sheik puts his claim to the test, pitting the American cowboy and his mustang, Hidalgo, against the world’s greatest Arabian horses and Bedouin riders–some of whom are determined to prevent a foreigner from finishing the race. For Frank, the Ocean of Fire becomes not only a matter of pride and honor, but a race for his very survival as he and his horse attempt the impossible.
